Constructional building set comprising building elements for blind person, and such building elements

ABSTRACT

A building element for a building constructional set comprising top face, a plurality of side walls extending downwardly from the top face, a plurality of coupling studs which are arranged on the top face in a two-dimensional periodical pattern, a plurality of cavities arranged in a two-dimensional periodical pattern between the side walls to receive the coupling studs in frictional engagement and at least one color indicator which is in form of spatially distributed raised points of the same shape and is part of the building element for the purpose of indicating the color of at least one surface area of the building element. Different spatially distribution of raised points of the same shape indicates different colors. The color indicator may also represents the type/strength of shade of the color of at least one surface area of the building element. The color indicator may be positioned on more than one side walls of the said building element allowing the perception of the color when color indicator on other walls is not visible. The building element may also include boundaries to indicate the color of a specific area on the surface of the building element. A color map on the external surface of the building elements, may provide color information for surface areas of the building elements which do not have enough space to accommodate a color indicator.

TECHNICAL FIELD AND INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a constructional building set comprisingbuilding elements for blind or partially person and such buildingelements.

BACKGROUND

Constructional building sets comprising of building elements withcomplementary coupling means are popular among persons belonging todifferent mental/physical age groups. MegaBlocks®, Lego® and Duplo® areexamples of popular brands of constructional building sets. Suchconstructional building sets contain building elements of differentcolors. A blind person is unable to perceive colors of building elementscontained in such constructional building sets. There is a need ofconstructional building with building elements whose colors could beeasily perceived by blind persons. Blind/partially sighted persons useBraille System for reading books and thus are well trained to collectinformation by feeling spatially distributed raised points of the sameshape with touch of fingers, where different distribution of spatiallyraised points indicate different letter. Building elements with colorinformation encoded in form of spatially distributed raised points canhelp blind persons easily perceive the color of the building elements.Building elements whose colors can be easily perceived by blind person,can help blind person achieve the same level of enjoyment as a personwho has normal vision and is capable of enjoying world of the colorsfully.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings together with the description, serve toexplain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a building element according to priorart;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a building element according to priorart;

FIG. 3 is top plan view of a building element according to prior art;

FIG. 4 is bottom plan view of a building element according to prior art;

FIG. 5 is side view of a building element according to prior art;

FIG. 6 is side view of a building element according to prior art;

FIG. 7 is top plan view of a building element according to prior art;

FIG. 8 is side and top plan view of a building element according toprior art;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of building element according to prior artwhen such building element is frictionally engaged with a base platewhich is larger than the outer boundaries of its top plan view;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a building element with large couplingstuds according to prior art;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a building element with large couplingstuds according to prior art;

FIG. 12 is top plan view of a building element with large coupling studsaccording to prior art;

FIG. 13 is bottom plan view of a building element with large couplingstuds according to prior art;

FIG. 14 is side view of a building element with large coupling studsaccording to prior art;

FIG. 15 is perspective view of multiple building elements according toprior art in frictional engagement;

FIG. 16 is perspective view of multiple building elements with largecoupling studs and according to prior art in frictional engagement;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of building element according to exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of building element according to exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is bottom plan view of building element according to exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is top plan view of building element according to exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of building element with large couplingstuds according to exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of building element with large couplingstuds according to exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is bottom plan view of building element with large couplingstuds according to exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is top plan view of building element with large coupling studsaccording to exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a buildingelement for a constructional building set having top face, a pluralityof side walls extending downwardly from the top face, coupling studswhich are arranged on the top face in a two-dimensional periodicalpattern, cavities arranged in a two-dimensional periodical patternbetween the side walls to receive the coupling studs in frictionalengagement and at least one color indicator which is in form ofspatially distributed raised points of the same shape and is part of thebuilding element for the purpose of indicating the color of at least onesurface area of the building element. According to another aspect of theinvention, color indicator also represents the type/strength of shade ofthe color of at least one surface area of the building element.According to another aspect of the invention same color indicator ispositioned on more than one side walls of the said building elementallowing the perception of the color when color indicator on other wallsis not visible. According to another aspect of the invention, thebuilding element has boundaries to indicate the color of a specific areaon the surface of building element.

As an example of prior art, a building element 11 contained inconstructional building sets from Lego® is illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG.5. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are perspective views from different angles for thebuilding element 11. FIG. 3 is top plan view of the building element 11.FIG. 4 is bottom plan view of the building element 11. FIG. 5 is sideview of the building element 11. The building element 11 comprises a topface 12, a plurality of side walls 14 extending downwardly from the topface 12, a plurality of coupling studs 13 which are arranged in atwo-dimensional periodic pattern on the top face 12 and a plurality ofcavities 23 arranged in a two-dimensional periodic pattern between theside walls 14 to receive the coupling studs 13 from other buildingelements in frictional engagement. A cavity 23 is realized by circulartube 21 and guide ribs 22. As illustrated in FIG. 3, d 19 is the minimumdistance between centers of two adjacent coupling studs 13 when such twoadjacent coupling studs 13 are positioned on the same two-dimensionalplane. Similarly, as illustrated in FIG. 4, d 19 is also the minimumdistance between the centers of adjacent cavities 23 which frictionallyengage coupling studs 13 when positioned on the same two-dimensionalplane. A squared area with each side of size d 19 and having its centerat the center of a coupling stud 13 is referred in this description ofthe present invention as Standard Cell Area 24. Shaded square area 24 inFIG. 3 and FIG. 4 represents one Standard Cell Area for the buildingelement 11.

Squared box shaped building element 11 illustrated in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5does not have subareas for top face 12 and subareas within the spaceextending between side walls 14. Building element contained in aconstruction building set can also have subareas for top face 12 and andalso for space extending between side walls 14. FIG. 6 illustrates sideview of an exemplary embodiment of building element 61 according toprior art. FIG. 7 is the top plan view of this building element 61. Thebuilding element 61 comprises a top face 62, plurality of side walls 64extending downwardly from the top face 62, a plurality of coupling studs63 arranged in two-dimensional periodic pattern on the top face 62, anda plurality of cavities 65 arranged in two-dimensional periodic patternto accommodate coupling studs 63 13 from other building elements. Thetop face 62 has three subareas 66 67 68. Two subareas 66 68 have fourcoupling studs each arranged in two-dimensional pattern. Third subarea67 is without any coupling stud. All subareas 66 67 68 have differentheights h1 6100, h2 6101 and h3 6102 respectively. The space betweenside walls 64 extending downwardly also has three subareas 6103 61046105 each of which are at height h4 6106, h5 6107 and h6 6108respectively. Only two subareas 6103 6105 have cavities 65. Buildingelement where top face 62 and/or the space between side walls 64extending downwardly is divided into subareas such as illustrated inFIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are within the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates top plan view 85 and side view 86 of a buildingelement 80. The building element 80 comprises a top face 81, a pluralityof side walls 83 extending downwardly from the top face 81, a pluralityof coupling studs 82 which are arranged on the top face 81 and aplurality of cavities 84 positioned side walls 83 to receive thecoupling stud 82 from other building elements in frictional engagement.FIG. 9 illustrates a top plan view of base plate 92 which is a union oftwo-dimensionally arranged standard cell areas 93. Building element 80is frictionally engaged with base plate 92 in such a manner that theouter boundary of top plan view 89 of building element 80 is within theouter boundary of top plan view of base plate 92. Any Standard CellAreas of base plate 92 which overlaps fully or partially with area thatis bounded by outer boundary of top plan view 89 of the building element80 is illustrated with shaded area 95 in FIG. 9. The union of shadedareas 99 in FIG. 9 is referred as Standard Dimension in this disclosureof the present invention. Building elements 11 61 80 according to priorart do not have color indicator on their external surface. Such colorindicator can help blind person perceive the color of a building elementeasily. In case, color indicator is positioned on the external surfaceof any such building element 11 61 80, the top plan view of outerboundaries of such color indicator needs to remain within the StandardDimension of the building element to allow this building elementfrictionally engage with other building elements in large number ofmanners.

An example of building element 101 contained in constructional buildingsets from MegaBlock® is illustrated in FIG. 10 to FIG. 14. FIG. 10 andFIG. 11 are perspective views of the building element 101 from differentangles. FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the building element 101. FIG. 13is a bottom plan view of the building element 101. FIG. 14 is a sideview of the building element 101. The building element 101 comprises atop face 102, a plurality of side walls 104 extending downwardly fromthe top face 102, a plurality of coupling studs 103 which are arrangedin a two-dimensional periodic pattern on the top face 102 and aplurality of cavities 113 arranged in a two-dimensional periodic patternbetween the side walls 104 to receive the coupling studs 103 from otherbuilding elements in frictional engagement. A cavity 113 is realized byguide ribs 112. Building element 101 has also inner wall 111 on whichsome of the guide ribs 112 forming cavities 113 are positioned. Asillustrated in FIG. 12, d 105 is the minimum distance between centers ofany two adjacent coupling studs 103 which are positioned on the sametwo-dimensional space. As illustrated in FIG. 13, d 105 is also theminimum distance between the centers of two adjacent cavities 113 whichare positioned on the same two-dimensional space. Shaded area 106 inFIG. 12 and FIG. 13 illustrates one Standard Cell Area for buildingelement 101. In case of building element 101, Standard Dimension is sameas the top face 102 of the building element 101. Such building element101 according to prior art do not have color indicator on its externalsurface. In case, color indicator is positioned on the external surfaceof the building element 101, the top plan view of outer boundaries ofsuch color indicator needs to remain within the Standard Dimension ofthe building element 101 to allow this building element 101 frictionallyengage with other building elements in large number of manners.

FIG. 15 is perspective view of building elements 151 152 153 154 155 infrictional engagement. Each of building elements 151 152 153 154 155have features of the building element 11 as illustrated in FIG. 1.Building element 155 has multiple cavities 23 and is able tofrictionally engage with coupling studs 13 form multiple buildingelements 151 152 153 154. Multiple cavities 23 and feature of multiplecoupling studs 13 of building elements 11 allow the flexibility offrictionally engaging with other building elements in large number ofarrangements. Building elements 151 152 153 154 can be placed side byside, as the Standard Dimension of building element 11 is the same asthe top plan view of the top face 12. These three features of buildingelement 11 allow the flexibility of arranging building elements 11 inlarge number of manners. FIG. 16 is perspective view of buildingelements 161 162 163, each of which having features of building element101 as illustrated in FIG. 10. Building element 163 has multiplecavities 113 and is able to frictionally engage with coupling studs 103form multiple building elements 161 162. Multiple cavities 113, multiplecoupling studs 103 and the feature of Standard Dimension of buildingelement 101 being same as the top plan view of the top face 102, allow abuilding element frictionally engage with other building elements 101 ina large number of arrangements.

FIG. 17 to FIG. 20 illustrate building element 170 according toexemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 17 and FIG. 18 areperspective views from different angles for the building element 170.FIG. 19 is bottom plan view of the building element 170. FIG. 20 is topplan view of the building element 170. The building element 170comprises a top face 171, a plurality of side walls 173 extendingdownwardly from the top face 171, a plurality of coupling studs 172which are arranged in a two-dimensional periodic pattern on the top face171 and a plurality of cavities arranged in a two-dimensional periodicpattern between the side walls 173 to receive the coupling studs 172from other building elements in frictional engagement. Cavities ofbuilding element 184 are realized by guide ribs 182 and inner walls 181.Space between the side walls 173 also contains a support wall 183. Thebuilding element 170 has brown color side walls with a picture of aflower which has red petals 1712 and green leaves 1713. Color indicator174 indicates the brown color of the building element 170. The buildingelement 170 has a boundary 1710 in the form of a three-dimensional line.Boundary 1710 indicates the exact/approximate dimensions of the areawhose color is represented by color indicator 174. A reference point 175indicates the position of the color indicator 174. In this exemplaryembodiment, broken line of the boundary 1710 indicates the position ofthe color indicator 174. The dimensions of red petals 1712 and greenleaves 1713 are too small to accommodate the information of the color,in the form of a color indicator. Including color indicator in thesurface area of red petals 1712 and green leaves 1713, may also spoilthe outlook of the red petals 1712 and green leaves 1713. Buildingelement 170 contains a color map 1714 to include the color informationfor petals 1712 and leaves 1713. The position of the color map 1714 isindicated by a reference point which is a large size square 1711 in thecase of building element 170. In color map 1714, red petals 1712 arerepresented by a petal shaped symbol 176 and the red color isrepresented by spatially distributed squared shape three-dimensionalstructures 177. Similarly, green leaves 1713 are represented by leavesshaped symbol 178 and the green color is represented by spatiallydistributed squared shape three-dimensional structures 179. The top planview of outer boundaries of building element 171 is within StandardDimension of the element, which allows building element 170 frictionallyengage with other building elements in a number of ways.

FIG. 21 to FIG. 24 illustrates building element 210 with large couplingstuds according to exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG.21 and FIG. 22 are perspective views from different angles for thebuilding element 210. FIG. 23 is bottom plan view of the buildingelement 170. FIG. 24 is top plan view of the building element 210.Building element 210 comprises a top face 211, a plurality of side walls213 extending downwardly from the top face 211, a plurality of couplingstuds 212 which are arranged in a two-dimensional periodic pattern onthe top face 211 and a plurality of cavities arranged in atwo-dimensional periodic pattern between the side walls 213 to receivethe coupling studs 212 from other building elements in frictionalengagement. Cavities of building element 234 are realized by guide ribs222. Space between the side walls 213 also contains a support wall 223.The building element 210 has brown color side walls with a picture of aflower which has red petals 2112 and green leaves 2113. Color indicator214 indicates the brown color of the building element 210. Buildingelement 210 has a boundary 2110 in the form of a three-dimensional line.Boundary 2110 indicates the exact/approximate dimensions of the areawhose color is represented by color indicator 214. A reference point 215indicates the position of the color indicator 214. In this exemplaryembodiment, broken line of the boundary 2110 indicates the position ofthe color indicator 214. The dimensions of red petals 2112 and greenleaves 2113 are too small to accommodate the information of the color,in the form of a color indicator. Including color indicator in thesurface area of red petals 2112 and green leaves 2113, may also spoilthe outlook of the red petals 2112 and green leaves 2113. Buildingelement 210 contains a color map 2114 to include the color informationfor petals 2112 and leaves 2113. The position of the color map 2114 isindicated by a reference point which is a large size square 2111 in thecase of building element 210. In color map 2114, red petals 2112 arerepresented by a petal shaped symbol 216 and the red color isrepresented by spatially distributed squared shape three-dimensionalstructures 217. Similarly, green leaves 2113 are represented by leavesshaped symbol 218 and the green color is represented by spatiallydistributed squared shape three-dimensional structures 219. The top planview of outer boundaries of building element 210 is within StandardDimension of the element, which allows building element 210 frictionallyengage with other building elements in a number of ways.

The building set according to the present invention also includes aliterature which includes the information of symbols and colorsrepresented by the color of the building element. This literature can beused to learn about the color indicators. This literature can alsoinclude information about how different subareas of the buildingelements are represented in the color map 1714 2114.

It is to be understood that while the detailed description describes thepresent invention, the foregoing description is for illustrative purposeand does not limit the scope of the present invention which is definedby the scope of the appended claims. Other embodiments, arrangements andequivalents will be evident to those skilled in the art. Such otherembodiments, arrangements and equivalents are within the scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A building element for a constructional building set comprising: a. atop face. b. a plurality of side walls extending downwardly from the topface. c. a plurality of coupling studs which are arranged in atwo-dimensional periodical pattern on the top face d. a plurality ofcavities arranged in a two-dimensional periodical pattern between theside walls to receive the coupling studs in frictional engagement e. atleast one color indictor which is positioned on the external surface ofthe said building element and indicates the color of at least onesurface area of the building element
 2. A building element according toclaim 1, characterized in that the outer boundaries of the top plan viewof the said building element are within the standard dimension of thebuilding element; wherein standard dimension of the said element isdefined as outer boundaries of an area which is union of standard cellareas for all those coupling studs which are arranged in two-dimensionalperiodic pattern on the top face of a base plate and overlap fully orpartially with area that is bounded by the outer boundary of top view ofthe said building element when the said building element is frictionallyengaged with the said base plate and said base plate has a size largerthan outer boundaries of top view of the said building element; alsowherein a standard cell area of said coupling stud/cavity is a squaredarea with each side of size d where d is the minimum distance betweencenters of adjacent said coupling studs/cavities existing in the sametwo-dimensional plane.
 3. A building element according to claim 1,wherein same color indicator is positioned on more than one side wallsof the said building element.
 4. A building element according to claim1, wherein the color indicator is at least one Braille character.
 5. Abuilding element according to claim 1, wherein the color indicatorrepresents a binary string.
 6. A building element according to claim 1,wherein color indicator also represent the type or strength of a color.7. A building element according to claim 1, wherein said multiple colorindicators ae combined to represent a new color.
 8. A building elementaccording to claim 1, wherein top face area of the said building elementis comprised of multiple subareas.
 9. A building element according toclaim 1, wherein the said cavities to accommodate said coupling studsare positioned in different subareas.
 10. A building element accordingto claim 1, wherein said building element has boundaries to indicate thearea that is represented by the said color indicator.
 11. A buildingelement according to claim 1, wherein it has a color map which includesthe indictor of at least one subarea and its color information.
 13. Abuilding element according to claim 8, wherein a reference point ispositioned on the external surface of the said building element and tofacilitate locating position of the color indicator.
 14. A constructionbuilding set containing at least one building element according toclaim
 1. 15. A construction building set according to claim 13, whereinsaid construction building set contains a literature which includes theinformation about different distribution of spatially raised points andwhat they represent.